A blog where I post a mixture of photos that I have taken and find amusing, interesting, artistic, surprising or strange.

Wednesday, 25 March 2015

KAYSERSBERG, FRANCE

Kaysersberg is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. The inhabitants are called Kaysersbergeois. The name means "Emperor's Mountain" in German. The high fortress that dominates the city serves as a reminder of both its strategic importance and its warlike past. Kaysersberg was the birthplace of Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965), theologian, musician, philosopher, and physician.

Together with the rest of Alsace-Lorraine, Kaysersberg was part of Germany during the period between the Franco-Prussian War and the First World War. Kaysersberg is one of the finest wine growing areas in Alsace. The first vines were brought here in the 16th century from Hungary, and wine production is still an important aspect of the town’s economy today. Wine produced from the Pinot gris variety is a local specialty.

We visited Kaysersberg in 1999 during an extended holiday in the Alsace-Lorraine region and we enjoyed the trip immensely. The photographs are original digital ones, but they have been taken with an early model Olympus digital camera so excuse the poorer quality. They are a wonderful reminder of our holiday there.